At first, Wade said nothing. Nope, as if they had all the time in the world, as if thousands and thousands of people weren’t watching and waiting, both in the stands and also on television, he calmly stood there, taut and steadfast. He adjusted his cap, then his mitt. Looked at the sky.

“You got something to say?” Pace finally asked.

“Yeah. It’s fucking hot out here.”

Pace let out a low laugh, which hurt like hell.

“So . . . Pizza after the game?”

Wade loved pizza, it was his comfort food. Pace’s, too, but at the moment the thought of food made him want to hurl.

Wade eyed the crowd, then the batter waiting on them. “He likes the ball inside. Don’t give it to him. Unless you’d like to give up another hit with bases loaded.”

Pace said nothing.

Wade adjusted his cap again. “You going to tell me the real problem or not?”

Pace turned the ball in his fingers.

“Not.” Wade sighed. “You want to get us through the inning?”

“Hell, yeah, I want to.” Pace pushed up his hat and revealed his face.

Wade met his gaze, his own going very somber. “But you can’t.”

At his imperceptible nod, Wade closed his eyes a minute, then gestured for Gage.

The Skipper jogged out, took one look at Pace’s face, and got a tick in his jaw. “You’re green. Tell me you have the flu.”

“No.”

“The shoulder?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, fuck me.”

“I’d rather not.”

Gage wasn’t amused. They lost eight to one.

In the medical room afterward, Pace had some X-rays taken but he was too swollen to see anything. It didn’t matter, in his gut he knew the truth. He’d likely torn his rotator cuff. That, or his arm was falling off, because that’s what it felt like.

On the bus back to the hotel, he sat packed in ice, his free hand in his pocket, his fingers wrapped around Holly’s thong.

Gage dropped into the seat next to him. “You okay?”

“No.”

“You want to talk?”

“No.”

“Okay.” Gage nodded. “Good. I’ll talk. What the hell happened in that shower room?”

“What do you mean?”

“You do more than kiss her?”

“Are you really asking me that?”

“It was supposed to be just a damn kiss. Whatever you did, you screwed with the flow.”

“Come on.”

“I’m serious. Now look at you, hurt.”

Pace let out a careful breath. “We did not lose because of whatever I did or didn’t do with Holly in that shower room and I sure as hell didn’t get hurt because of it.”